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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226595">'Tis the Goddamn Season</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bsessedandindistress/pseuds/0bsessedandindistress'>0bsessedandindistress</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(not the version that goes to heaven), Alternate Universe - College/University, Asexual Castiel (Supernatural), Christmas, College Parties, Drinking, Drunkenness, Fluff, Holidays, Kid Claire Novak, Kid Jack Kline, M/M, No Smut, Philadelphia, Sharing a Bed, Sledding, Strangers to Lovers, Tags May Change, The Impala (Supernatural), and because i can't go two lines without cursing, because ace cas rights and i can do what i want, i don't know where this fic is going so these tags will most definitely change, i have a personal vendetta against the song santa baby, not castiel's kids though, rated t for college themes, references to real places</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:48:17</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,543</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28226595</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/0bsessedandindistress/pseuds/0bsessedandindistress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Holidays can be complicated, and finals can feel like the end of the world. But sometimes holiday cheer can be found in places as simple as two broke college students meeting for the first time.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Santa Baby (derogatory)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>thank you to norwegiandean on tumblr for proofreading this and giving me some much needed encouragement this week &lt;3</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>If Hell is real it takes the form of a college bookstore on the last day of classes. You would think that it would be empty right? That all the students would have bought their textbooks at, oh, I don’t know, the start of the semester? Or at least midterms right? Seeing as you <em>need </em>a textbook to study for an exam? Wrong. If Castiel had to explain to one more person that “sorry we actually are all out of that textbook because it’s for a class that started sixteen weeks ago,” he was going to lose his damn mind. </p><p>The holiday music playing throughout the store did nothing to help the situation. Honestly, how many covers of “Santa Baby” did the world need? In Castiel’s opinion the answer was none. The song was sub-par to begin with, and now that he had heard at least ten different covers of it in 5 hours even though he was certain that the song just quite frankly didn’t need to exist at all.</p><p>“Hey! Earth to Clarence! Dude are you even paying attention?” Castiel blinked hard before turning to look at Meg at the counter beside him.</p><p>“What?”</p><p>“Did you hear a single word I said?” Cas rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Maybe when you start using my name I’ll start listening to what you say” he retorted with a raised brow.</p><p>The side of Meg’s mouth quirked up in a smirk. “Tis the season Clarence, I’m merely keeping the holiday spirit alive.” Her smirk fell and she scoffed as another cover of Santa Baby began to play throughout the store. “Someone has to, I mean honestly can’t Zachariah put on a better station?”</p><p>“Oh believe me darling we’ve all tried. I even snuck into the office to change it myself, but I’m nearly positive that he’s shoved the remote so far up his ass-”</p><p>“Balthazar” Castiel cut in as he shifted his view to the man sitting underneath the countertop.</p><p>“What?” Balthazar widened his eyes innocently from where he sat on the floor, “I’m only stating the facts about our dear manager who we all love so much.” Meg snorted as Castiel only rolled his eyes, choosing instead to focus on the student who was walking towards him.</p><p>“Hi, can I help you?” Castiel asked, trying his best to keep a pleasant look on his face.</p><p>“Yea I’m actually looking for a textbook.”</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
It was an hour later that the bookstore finally closed, officially freeing the employees from their semi-permanent hell.</p><p>“So Clarence,” Meg asked as they locked the doors behind them, “are you coming out tonight?”</p><p>With finals not starting until Monday, the students had a three-day weekend of freedom to split between nursing their hangovers and bending over their textbooks. It was practically an expectation that you complete a little of both at some point.</p><p>“I don’t know Meg, I really should focus on studying.” Balthazar rolled his eyes before Castiel had even finished.</p><p>“Cas come on, you’ve been studying non-stop for the past week already. Besides, one night won’t kill you. Come over at 9:30, we’ll see you then.” Before Castiel could even think to refuse the offer, Balthazar and Meg had turned towards campus, beginning their trek towards the student dorms.</p><p>Castiel looked at his watch. It was already quarter after 8. He huffed as he turned towards the busy street. This late in the year, the sun was setting around 5 PM, so the streets of West Philadelphia were bathed in street lights and the haze of light pollution. Cas took a moment to just stare at the street, noticing when a light flurry began to fall as the temperature dropped. He pulled his jacket closer around him. The snow was one of the first of the year. Not enough to stick to the ground, but enough to remind the city that winter was rapidly approaching.</p><p>His trance broke when his stomach rumbled. Cas groaned. Balthazar was right about his early studying, and between long shifts and longer nights he’d had no time to go grocery shopping. As he moved away from the bookstore, he did a mental check of what he had left in his apartment. Some oatmeal, a few granola bars, maybe a bowl of cereal? His stomach grumbled again as he passed King’s next to the bookstore. He could practically smell the cheesesteak from the street.</p><p>Cas tried to hold his gaze on the sidewalk ahead, but his eyes flickered over to the open sign against his will. Sighing, Cas turned to walk inside. Even though he technically didn’t have the money to spare, he was <em>not </em>going to eat oatmeal for dinner for a third night in a row.</p><p>He pulled the door open and was hit with the smell of grease and the warmth of a grill. The place was far from busy, but there were a few tables littered with students. There was a high counter set in front of the grill, with the register on the end furthest from the door. The grill behind the counter crackled as it cooked the shredded steak, while the fryers bubbled off to the side. Cas walked across to the register which had no one behind it. Standing in front of the counter he glanced around the back area, not noticing an employee anywhere around.</p><p>“Hey man! Sorry for your wait.” A guy hurried towards the counter from where he had been leaning over the back tables. He carried a stack of trays which he dropped behind the counter as he squeezed through the gap at the end. “What can I get ya?”</p><p>“Um,” Castiel began, looking up at the menu above. “Can I just have a cheesesteak? And I guess a small fry?”</p><p>“Ok, wiz, American, or Provolone? And do you want with or without?” Cas’s eyes must have widened slightly. Even after living in Philadelphia for a full semester, he still had no idea what these people were saying half the time.</p><p>“Um,” His confusion must have only gotten worse because the worker then shot him a crooked smile.</p><p>“Ok hey, is there anything you don’t like?” He asked Cas, smirk still plastered on his face.</p><p>“Right now? Oatmeal.” The smirk turned into a full grin.</p><p>“Oh well it’s your lucky day, we’re all out of oatmeal. Sit down at the bar there, I’ll get you set up with something.” Cas hopped up onto the barstool, dropping his backpack onto the chair next to him. The worker turned around and started dropping things onto the grill.</p><p>“So,” he started, glancing back at Cas, “I’m guessing you’re a student here?”</p><p>“Yes, just transferred this semester.” Cas said, tapping his fingers against the countertop.</p><p>“Well that explains why I’ve never seen you around before, I tend to know most of the school working at this joint. Us college kids and our greasy hangover food ya know?” He fidgeted some more with the food on the grill before leaning against the counter next to it, full attention on Cas.</p><p>Cas just let his eyes roam around the store, pulling his phone out of his pocket in order to have something to fidget with. He looked up at the man staring at him, and Castiel definitely did not notice how green the man’s eyes looked as they connected with his own.</p><p>“So what? Wanna do first day of class introductions?” He asked, raising his eyebrows dramatically before starting into a spiel in what can best be described as the male impersonation of a sorority voice. “Hi, my name’s Dean, I’m a junior engineering major and my fun fact is that I once ate three whole pizzas without throwing them back up.” He smiled at Cas expectantly, eyebrows still raised.</p><p>“Oh, um, I’m a junior too - environmental science.” Cas pursed his lips and nodded at Dean.</p><p>“Ok sunshine, you got a name? Oh and you can’t forget your fun fact!” Dean nudged, slipping back into his impersonation for the second sentence.</p><p>“Oh yea it’s Castiel, sometimes Cas.” Cas stopped for a moment, shifting his eyes around as he thought. “Uh, For the past week I’ve had to break into my own apartment because my roommate dropped our key in a gutter?” He looked back to Dean who was smiling widely again.</p><p>“Look at that, we’re practically besties.” Dean replied as he turned back towards the grill. He turned back and put a cheesesteak and fries on a tray in front of Castiel. “Ok well you’re all set, hopefully it’s better than oatmeal.” Dean said as he pushed the tray towards Cas, who dug straight into the cheesesteak.</p><p>He felt his eyes roll up and close a bit, overwhelmed by the first fresh meal he’d had in days. “That good huh?” Dean asked, chuckling at Cas’s reaction. Cas just nodded around the mouthful of food that was still in his mouth. Dean smirked again, before turning away to clean up the grill.</p><p>Cas scarfed down half the cheesesteak, deciding to save the other half for a second meal and he wrapped it in the foil beneath it. He had started to pick at his fires, wasting time until Dean finished what he was doing around the store and returned to the counter. He glanced down at his phone, it was only 8:35, still plenty of time to get to his apartment and still be back in time to meet Balthazar and Meg. He groaned inwardly at being forced to go out and lose even more sleep, but he was also more than a little thrilled to have friends who actually invited him out in the first place.</p><p>Dean wandered back to the grill a few minutes later, carrying another stack of trays from the tables. Cas looked up at him as he dropped the trays on top of the stack from earlier.</p><p>“So, how much do I owe you?” Cas asked, pulling out his wallet as Dean moved around behind the counter.</p><p>“Eh, I don’t know, maybe like $3?”</p><p>“$3?” Cas questioned incredulously. “The cheesesteak alone is $5.”</p><p>“Yea yea,” Dean said, waving his hand to cut Cas off. “But hey, you’re our neighbor, I can cut you a break.”</p><p>“Your neighbor?” Cas questioned.</p><p>“Yeah, you’re in your work shirt - your store is right next to us. Gotta help each other out you know? Especially us students. Besides, it’s just a couple dollars, my boss won’t even care.”</p><p>Cas narrowed his eyes, but Dean looked like he wasn’t going to be swayed.</p><p>“Ok then.” Cas said. “But if you ever come next door, I owe you one.”</p><p>“Deal.” Dean said with another crooked smile that definitely did not light up his entire face.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
Cas was going to <em>murder </em>Meg and Balthazar.</p><p>After leaving King’s Cas had done a quick loop home to drop off his bags and change out of his work uniform. He threw on a pair of jeans and a tan shirt, pulling a thick navy-blue sweater on over his head as he walked out the door.</p><p>It was definitely too cold to not have more layers on, but Meg and Balthazar made quick work of him when he finally showed up at Balthazar’s dorm. By midnight they were all happily drunk and very warm. Even college tolerance levels couldn’t withstand three drinking games. At that point, Meg had practically dragged the boys out the door, talking about some house down the street which was throwing a huge party. She shoved a Pepsi bottle of god know what into each of their hands as Castiel pulled his sweater back on. Together the three of them stumbled outside, linking arms as they walked the seven blocks towards the party.</p><p>Well, party was one word for it. While it wasn’t technically a frat, the number of people crammed into the townhouse’s first floor and basement certainly rivaled one. The music was blaring and the lights were low. Balthazar left almost instantly to socialize with the entire student body. Meg and Cas wandered downstairs where the unfinished basement was packed with people. Meg led him into the middle of the floor where they sang and danced and had a good time. For the first hour.</p><p>It was around that point that Castiel decided he would literally rather be anywhere else. He was overheating from the hot air, which smelled like sweat and cheap beer. His vision was increasingly shaky, and he didn’t know if it was the loud music, the low lighting, or whatever Meg had dumped into the Pepsi bottle he had finished. No matter the reason, he was over it.</p><p>He grabbed Meg’s arm and moved close to her ear to be heard above the music. “Meg, I'm heading out. Be safe, ok?” Meg turned from where she had been talking to some other friends she had found at the party.</p><p>“Of course Clarence, do you want me to walk with you home?” It was a nice offer, but Meg looked about as coherent as Castiel felt, and he wasn’t about to take her away from her friends who were all sticking together.</p><p>“I’ll be fine Meg, I’ll see you at work on Monday.” He squeezed her into a side hug, and then moved to weave through the crowd towards the stairs.</p><p>“Bye Clarence!” He heard Meg yell his direction, before she rejoined the singing and dancing around her.</p><p>The temperature dropped by at least five degrees when Castiel hit the first floor. In the kitchen, he stopped at the sink to fill the empty Pepsi bottle with some water for the walk home. Pulling out his phone, the time 1:45 AM stared back at him. His house was a little over 10 blocks away. Not a great situation in the middle of the night, but it was mostly college housing and he knew it would be fine.</p><p>Cas dropped his phone back in his pocket as the bottle started to overflow, as he began to try and put the bottle cap back on. A task easier said than done when both your hands and sight was shaking. It was at this moment that someone ran directly into his back, and he dropped both the cap and the bottle into the sink as he was slammed up against it himself. Cas groaned and turned around, expecting some drunk frat boy to be clobbering around behind him.</p><p>“Oh fuck sorry man are you,” Dean paused as he and Cas made eye contact, green meeting blue in the dim light of the party. “Hey Cas, long time no see.”</p><p>Cas rolled his eyes, or more his entire head, now that his coordination was incredibly impaired. Unfortunately for him, the cost of his dramatics was losing his entire sense of balance as his head swayed and he lurched forward.</p><p>“Woah hey Cas are you ok? Dude you’re looking a little rough there.”</p><p>“I’m fine” Cas mumbled, righting himself as he put a hand on the counter behind him to steady himself. “Fucking Meg had to make drinks I swear to fucking god” he continued mumbling under his breath. In some part of Castiel’s mind, he knew that he was absolutely fucked. The heat of the basement had masked the effects, but now that he had stopped and cooled off, the alcohol he had drank was quickly catching up with him.</p><p>“Shit- I have to walk home.” Cas said, blinking slowly as he shifted his eyes back to Dean’s face.</p><p>“Oh, absolutely not.” Dean said.</p><p>“I’m not a <em>child, </em>Dean, I can handle myself. Besides, I just <em>met </em>you - I don’t need you to fucking babysit me.”</p><p>“Dude, you almost just fell over on top of me, I’m not letting you walk home.”</p><p>Cas tried to roll his eyes again, and only succeeded in almost losing his grip on the counter behind him. Dean’s arm shot out to steady Castiel, grabbing his bicep as he swayed against the counter, eyes closing against his will. Cas may or may not have leaned heavily into Dean’s touch. If Dean noticed, he didn’t react.</p><p>“Come on man, let’s get you somewhere where you’re not gonna crack your head open when you fall flat on your face.”</p><p>Cas continued to grumble as Dean pulled him away from the counter and slung his arm around him. “I’m fine Dean I barely even know you I’m fine I’m good to walk home I’ll be fine.”</p><p>Dean just scoffed as he began to move Cas through the first floor. “Cas you’re rambling, you’re definitely not fine. Plus I told you earlier, we’re basically best friends now. Now come on you big lug help me out with the stairs here.”</p><p>Cas felt himself walk shakily up some stairs. Well, walk was a strong word. “Being dragged up some stairs” was probably more accurate. At this point, Cas was mentally cursing Meg and Balthazar for being idiots and having a higher tolerance than him, which is just plain rude. They were gonna love this story of Cas almost ending up on his ass on the floor of a house party. </p><p>He felt Dean shift, and then Cas was lowered onto something soft. Something that felt like a bed? </p><p>His eyes shot open, adrenaline spiking as he looked around the spinning room. Dean was crouched by a dresser, leafing through the drawers. </p><p>“Dean what’s going on? Where are we?” </p><p>Dean glanced back at Cas before moving his attention back to the drawer. “I said you weren’t walking home. Damn good thing too. You wouldn’t have made it a block before you collapsed and it would have really ruined my day if I found you dead in the street from frostbite tomorrow morning.” Dean pulled something black out of the drawer before sliding it shut. “As for where, this is my room.”</p><p>“This- you live here in this house that’s having this party?” Cas asked, words coming out slower than he originally planned. Cas couldn’t see very well but he swore Dean rolled his eyes. </p><p>“Yea sunshine, I live here.” He looks as Cas dubiously, “Are you gonna hurl?” Cas blinked slowly, processing the question. </p><p>“No, no I don’t think so.” </p><p>“Great, put these on,” Dean tossed the fabric in his hand over, which turned out to be a pair of sweatpants. “They should fit, but if they don’t I can figure something else out.” </p><p>Cas just squinted at the pants before looking up at Dean. “Am I sleeping here?” He asked. </p><p>“Yea Cas, you are. Now come on, put on the sweatpants and go to sleep.” And Cas did. He noticed Dean occupy himself with something when Cas changed, and Cas dropped his sweater and jeans onto the floor before collapsing into his back and letting sleep wash over him. </p><p>Before he was completely asleep he felt Dean adjusting him, moving him onto his side and pulling a sheet over him. Cas heard a mumbled “Fucking idiot, need to get some sleep.” as he slipped into darkness. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Creamer with a Splash of Coffee</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i did not proofread this if you find mistakes please ignore them (or message me and i will fix them). if you're not willing to ignore them then come personally fight me my address is [redacted]</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Caution, Bus Is Turning.”</p><p>The sound of the SEPTA bus woke Castiel up the next morning. He cracked his eyes open and instantly regretted it. The morning sun was near blinding, and Cas jolted as his body overheated below the bedsheets. He aggressively kicked the sheets off his lower body, turning around in the bed to try and find a cool spot. Lucky for him, all that moving around only succeeded in producing the first wave of hangover nausea. Cas slammed his eyes back shut, trying to mentally gauge if the nausea was the ‘run to the bathroom’ type or the ‘don’t move for at <em>least</em> another hour’ type. Turning his head face down into the pillow, Cas tried to decide between dying from heatstroke and moving and risking throwing up whatever alcohol was left in his system.</p><p>He took a deep breath in, and his previous problems flew out of his mind. His pillowcase definitely didn’t smell like this. Pushing himself up slightly off the pillow, Cas took in the room around him. Slanted ceilings told him that he was on the top floor of someone’s rowhome. The windows were small against the walls, and the thin quilt he had kicked to the ground was a dark, faded army green. He began to panic, trying to think back to the events of the pervious night, when his eyes fell into the far corner of the room.</p><p>A tuff of dirty blond hair was poking out from a mass of blankets and limbs on a folding butterfly chair. A mass which, after squinting for several seconds, Castiel recognized as Dean. Dean from King’s. Dean who Castiel had bumped into at the party last night. Dean who had pulled a very drunk Castiel up flights of stairs to his room. Cas let his head fall back onto the pillow behind him, wincing as the sudden movement caused a second wave of nausea. Yea, it was definitely the ‘don’t move’ type.</p><p>After taking a moment to compose himself, Cas turned his head towards the chair where Dean had apparently slept all night. His head was leaned awkwardly against the back of the chair, back bent in nearly half as he sat in the deepest corner of the chair with his legs thrown across the arm above him. It looked incredibly uncomfortable. The morning sun was illuminating Dean from the window on that side of the room, making the blond of his hair even more noticeable. Dean’s face was just barely visible from beneath the blankets, but Cas could see a spattering of freckles across his nose in the bright morning sun.</p><p>Moving his eyes lazily around the rest of the room, Cas noticed for the first time his phone setting on the side table beside the bed. Snaking an arm off the edge of the bed, he snatched his phone and turned it around. It was 7:30 in the morning. Cas hated how when his hangovers made him wake up this early. Scrolling through his phone, he saw some texts from Meg telling him that she was home safe, and a message from his roommate Alfie from last night, reminding Cas that he had work at 8 AM and to please be quiet if he came home late. Cas groaned as he put his phone back onto the nightstand. Before he could pull it back though, he happened to look towards the corner of the room. Where green eyes were now cracked open and looking his way.</p><p>Dean blinked a few times, before his eyes finally opened completely as he woke up. He shifted in the chair, head moving ever so slightly towards Castiel. “Morning sunshine, how’s the hangover coming?” Dean said, his voice lower and raspier than what Cas had ever heard before. Cas groaned as he shifted his head back down into the pillow. Dean laughed, a rough morning sound that made Castiel glad his face was deep in the pillow, because he was pretty sure he was starting to blush. What could he say? Dean’s morning voice was nice. It was almost intimate, an aspect of Dean that Cas felt he shouldn’t know only twelve hours after they met. </p><p>He heard the butterfly chair creak and the blanket hit the floor as Dean moved out of the chair (Cas wasn’t looking, but from sound alone it sounded oddly like Dean had nearly fallen out of the chair trying to get out of his tangled position). Cas turned his head slightly out of the pillow, watching Dean fold the gray blanket and put it over the back of the chair. Dean turned his head, making eye contact with Castiel for the first time that morning. His green eyes sparked gold in the direct sunlight, and he smirked over at Cas.</p><p>“Dude, you look like shit.”</p><p>“I feel like shit.” Cas rumbled, feeling his voice catch as his vocal cords protested being used so soon after a night of yelling in a basement. Dean’s eyes only widened slightly, just subtle enough that Cas thought he might have imagined it. Either way, he brushed it off quick enough as his default smirk found its way back onto his face.</p><p>“Alright well get up already. I bet it’s nothing a shower won’t fix.” Cas’s eyes widened as Dean began shuffling through his dresser once again. He pulled a towel out, tossing it Cas’s way. “I’m going to go try and round you up some advil, I’ll knock before I come back in.” He threw over his shoulder as he turned and walked out the door, pulling it shut behind him.</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>Ten minutes later Cas sat back down on Dean’s bed. Even though he had just slept there all night, he felt conscious about intruding on Dean’s space. He had changed back into his jeans from the night before, as well as his sweater sans the t-shirt under it. He was at least grateful that no one had thrown up on him at any point. While kinda gross, he was thankful he could wear his clothes without feeling like he needed to bathe in disinfectant. He was holding the damp towel in his hands as he looked over Dean’s room with clearer eyes.</p><p>There were band posters up onto the walls, a desk back against the wall opposite to the butterfly chair. The bed sat in the middle of the room; roof slanted slightly closer to the headboard than the base. The butterfly chair and end table were the only furniture on the other side of the bed. Outside of them, there were some crates of what looked like music or books or magazines, a guitar case, and some miscellaneous clothes and blankets.</p><p>It was an odd mix of patchy and put together. Everything on the wall was taped up by something ranging from scotch tape to, was that duct tape with pink smiley faces on it? The same smiley face duct tape held a calendar above the desk, important information scribbled in miscellaneous writing. “Last day class” was written in red pen on December 16, yesterday’s date. All of next week had “FINALS” written across it in bright green highlighter. Christmas, which was only two Saturdays from now, was circled in pencil. The crates of records and books were bright orange Wawa crates, the kind that would be easiest to get by simply stealing from the dumpsters behind Wawa.</p><p>The whole room was what some might call “organized chaos,” and what Castiel considered “typical broke college student.” It was homey, in a weird, bright pink smiley face duct tape kinda way.</p><p>Dean knocked on the door, which had remained closed since he left the room fifteen minutes ago.</p><p>“Hey, you decent in there?” He asked through the door.</p><p>“Yea” was all Cas replied. Dean walked in holding a glass of water and cupping his hand the way you do when you’re holding pills.</p><p>“Ok well I hope you weren’t set on the advil, I’m too broke for that name brand stuff. I did mange to find you some hopefully not-expired ibuprofen though.” He raised his hands slightly and raised his eyebrows at Cas.</p><p>“Ibuprofen works.” Cas replied, and Dean closed the distance from the door to the bed, handing the water over and dropping two pink pills in Castiel’s hand. Cas knocked back both and finished the water for good measure. He tried to ignore the pleased look on Dean’s face. He instead moved to put the empty glass on Dean’s nightstand.</p><p>“So, wanna get some breakfast?” Dean asked. “I know this one place that has a great hangover remedy.”</p><p>“Uh, I should probably head back to my apartment and start studying.” Cas said, starting to fidget his hands again.</p><p>“Dude, it’s 8 AM. You don’t have to study just yet. Come on, it’ll be my treat.”</p><p>“You know me falling asleep here doesn’t change the fact that I just met you yesterday. You could me a serial killer for all I know.”</p><p>“Aw come on man, what’s life without a little risk?” Cas might’ve thought to hesitate if he could’ve pulled his thoughts away from how nice a tinge of humor sounded in Dean’s voice. His mind settled to just rolling his eyes.</p><p>“I don’t even know your last name, you really think I’m going to let you drive me around the whole fucking city of Philadelphia?”</p><p>“Winchester. Last name’s Winchester.” Dean turned around to grab a jacket off his desk chair. His face was split into a grin when he turned back. “Come on, I’ll drive.”</p><p><br/>
</p>
<hr/><p><br/>
</p><p>It was about half an hour later when they pulled into the diner parking lot. Dean had thrown a flannel and jacket over his tshirt, and changed from sweats into a pair of jeans. Cas had his hat back on and had put on one on Dean’s old shirts under his sweater (“Cas I’m not watching you shiver when I have perfectly good clothes right here”). They were far from properly dressed for the December cold which was only made worse by the wind that constantly plagued the city. Luckily for them both, the heat in Dean’s car worked perfectly.</p><p>Dean shut off the engine and looked over to Cas before getting out of the car.</p><p>“I still don’t understand how you manage to keep a car this nice while living in West Philadelphia.” Castiel commented as he followed suit, watching Dean lock the doors of the ’67 Chevy Impala.</p><p>“Well what can I say, she’s my Baby. I don’t let anything bad happen to her.” Cas cocked an eyebrow at Dean and he continued. “Plus I know how to throw a punch if someone gets the wrong idea. And it’s not like I haven’t fixed her up before.” Cas just rolled his eyes as he opened the door of the diner.</p><p>Mama’s was remarkably empty for 8:30 AM. The only patrons were some elderly couples scattered around the tables. The whole place smelled like breakfast meat and coffee, and Cas’s mouth started watering the second they walked in. Dean made a beeline for a booth in the corner, sitting down on one side and motioning for Cas to slide in across from him.</p><p>“Dean, I appreciate the effort, but I’m sure we could’ve found greasy diner food closer to the university.” Dean just shook his head.</p><p>“No way man, Mama’s is the best hangover cure in the city. Believe me, how do you think I found this place.” He winked over at Cas. Cas felt a blush heat his cheeks, and he was saved from needing to find a reply by the young girl who walked up and slide two glasses of water onto the table.</p><p>“I wish you hadn’t found us Winchester, would’ve made my day a lot better.”</p><p>“Hi to you too Krissy.” Dean said, looking up at the girl who wouldn’t have been more than sixteen. “You know, I don’t know what you would do without me,” he continued dramatically. “I mean who else is going to drive halfway across the city to pick you up from some north philly frat party – “ He was cut off by Krissy whacking him on the arm with her waitressing notepad.</p><p>“Can you shut up about that? It was one time.”</p><p>“Yea it’d better be kid, I ain’t covering for your ass again. Speaking of shouldn’t your ass be at, oh I don’t know, high school right now?” Krissy just rolled her eyes.</p><p>“First period is just gym. You can only run so many laps around the school parking lot before you start to question if there’s something better you could be doing.”</p><p>Cas watched the conversation with interest, noting how Dean moved his eyes up to think, before shifting them down to meet Cas’s across the table. His eyes crinkled in the corners, before he shrugged to Cas. Cas heard Krissy scoff off to his side, but at the moment he was still caught at the laughter that was shining in Dean’s eyes.</p><p>“Are you two just gonna stare at each other or can I take your order?” Krissy butted in. Cas’s blush made a quick comeback, as Dean diverted his eyes back up to hers.</p><p>“Just two coffees and ugh,” he glanced over at Cas, “you’re not allergic to any breakfast foods right?”</p><p>Cas just shook his head.</p><p>“Great!” Dean beamed back at Krissy, “and two number 3’s, thanks Krissy.” Even though Krissy rolled her eyes, Cas could’ve sworn he saw the hint of a smile on her lips as she walked back towards the kitchen.</p><p>“You know I actually do know how to speak for myself, as much as it seems you’d like to do it for me.” Cas said as he started to pull apart his silverware. He glanced up at Dean, who’s confidence seemed to be faltering for the first time that morning. Taking pity on him, Cas continued; “What did you order me anyways?”</p><p>Cas hated how he could already pick out the way Dean’s face relaxed at the question.</p><p>“You’ll just have to wait and see” he said, throwing another wink at Cas. Trying to combat what would be his third uncontrollable blush of the day, Cas continued on with conversation.</p><p>“You seem to know Krissy well. How long have you been coming here?”</p><p>“Oh I found this place first semester freshman year. I moved out here from Kansas for college, and this place was, I don’t know actually, I guess it just reminded me of home?” He looked down and smiled. “You know,” Dean continued, “I actually stumbled in here one morning, even earlier then we’re in here now. I had gotten trashed at some West philly party and woke up on a park bench a few blocks away. Walked in here to wait until the buses started running, and the rest is history you know?”</p><p>Cas scrunched his eyebrows together. “You woke up on a park bench? In the middle of west Philadelphia?”</p><p>Dean shrugged, “what can I say? Freshman year I was kinda a hot mess.”</p><p>“Kinda is a word for it.” They fell into a silence, not quite a comfortable one, but one that Castiel couldn’t really figure out how to break without seeming intrusive.</p><p>It was at that moment that Krissy returned with two steaming cups of coffee and a whole handful of those single-use creamer things. Dean instantly grabbed a creamer cup, pulling the plastic off the top and about to pour it in before he noticed Cas starting to pick up his coffee.</p><p>“Don’t you want creamer?”</p><p>“I normally drink black coffee.” Cas replied. You would’ve thought he had just told Dean that he enjoyed kicking the city pigeons. His eyes widened, and he looked worriedly between Cas’s dark coffee and Cas’s face. His lips pursed together, and his eyes squinted slightly.</p><p>“Is it good?”</p><p>“I like it.” Cas replied, more amused by this situation then he’d care to admit.</p><p>Dean’s lips pursed again. And Castiel was definitely <em>not</em> looking at his lips nope definitely not.</p><p>“Can I try it?” Dean asked in a tone that was almost timid.</p><p>Cas just grinned. “You want to try my coffee?” Dean rolled his eyes.</p><p>“Whatever just forget that I-“ Cas cut him off by pushing his coffee across the table. Dean quickly shut up, looking between Cas and the coffee now in front of him a few times before staring distrustfully at the coffee. After a few seconds, he picked up the mug and took a hilariously small sip of coffee.</p><p>His entire face grimaced, as Dean stuck his whole tongue out of his mouth in disgust. Cas burst out laughing. Dean continued to grimace until he had downed at least half of the water in his glass. At this point Cas had moved his arm to hold his stomach in an effort to stop his hysterics which were doing nothing to help his hangover nausea.</p><p>Even after he finally stopped chugging water, Dean’s face was still set in a grimace when he linked eyes with Castiel. This of course, only caused Cas to laugh even harder. Dean, after his eyes widened significantly, soon dropped his grimace in favor of a massive smile braking out on his face, followed by his own round of hysterics. And that is how two hungover college students on the edge of finals week found themselves laughing over black coffee on a very early Friday morning in a small diner in west philly.</p><p>It was almost a full minute before either man was able to start drawing in deep breaths and attempting to calm down. Once Cas finally got some air back into his lungs, he found himself wiping actual tears out of his eyes. He looked up to where Dean was beaming at him. Cas smiled back.</p><p>“I don’t even think that counts as tasting the coffee, you barely had a sip,” Cas nudged.</p><p>“Oh, I had plenty thank you very much. I think I’ll stick to three creamers in my coffee from now on.”</p><p>As Dean, true to his word, dumped three creamers in a row into his own coffee, Cas picked his own mug up. Cradling it in his hands, he was perfectly content to just sit and watch Dean Winchester make a fool of himself and drink disgustingly watered-down coffee.</p><p>Dean took a sip of his coffee, gazing over at Castiel.</p><p>“So,” he started, “you said you just transferred this semester right?”</p><p>“Yea.” Cas replied, bunching his eyebrows at the shift in conversation.</p><p>“Where did you transfer from?”</p><p>Cas mentally stalled for a moment, before deciding to just go for it. “I was going to school in rural Pennsylvania with my family. I needed out, so I applied to every school in the city and took the train here the day I got an acceptance letter.” He paused then, gazing down at his coffee. “I haven’t really heard from any of them since.”</p><p>Dean sat in silence for a moment. “Are you going home for the holidays?”</p><p>“Honestly? I don’t know.”</p><p>Dean moved his eyes around, thinking, “Well, if you’re still around I’m going to be here too.” He grinned at Cas, “I’m sure we can find something to spark some holiday spirit.”</p><p>“Are you not going home either?”</p><p>Dean shook his head. “No.” He paused before continuing. “My dad died back before freshman year. The only family I’d really want to see is my brother or my Uncle Bobby. Bobby lives in South Dakota and Sam is out at Stanford working on his freshman year of college.” Dean looked up to Cas smirked. “Smartest kid in the family ya know? He’s staying out there to nerd out over extra winter classes, so I won’t see him until the summer. Plus, even if we wanted to get together, plane tickets are too expensive this time of year.”</p><p>Cas just sat in silence for a moment, digesting what he had just heard. “I’m sorry about your dad.” Suddenly Dean’s “kinda hot mess” of a semester made a little more sense. “And I’m sorry you won’t get to see your family.”</p><p>Dean’s mouth quirked up. “Hey thanks man, I mean it’s been awhile now, so it doesn’t bother me as much anymore. You know he wasn’t really the most amazing dad, we were mostly raised by our Uncle Bobby, but he was still my dad.” He paused to take a sip of his coffee (if you could call it that with all the cream that had been dumped in it). “And I don’t mind missing the holidays too much; it’s out of my control at this point anyways.” He glanced up at Cas, his eyes lighting up. “Plus, now I get a chance to bug you until then. I’m going to drag you around this city whether you like it or not. Call it hazing for coming to school in Philadelphia.”</p><p>Cas rolled his eyes, Dean grinned. Krissy returned with two plates of corned beef hash and eggs.</p><p>“Corned beef hash?” Cas asked, raising his eyebrows at Dean.</p><p>“Hey, it’s a classic,” Dean said, winking across the table at Cas as he squeezed ketchup over his entire meal.</p><p>Cas definitely did not blush for the fourth time that day.</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>Cas waited with Dean at the register up front while Krissy punched in their total. She was about to speak when a woman came walking out of the back kitchen towards the counter.</p><p>“Dean Winchester, you have a lot of nerve showing up here after so long and not saying hello to me.” She complained as she moved around the counter to give Dean a hug, which he was more or less forced into.</p><p>“Hi Missouri,” Dean said. “Sorry its’s been so long, been busy with school you know.”</p><p>“You’d better be busy with school young man, you’re too smart to be wasting any of your potential” she said, patting Dean on his arm as she released him from the hug. She looked over at Cas, “and who is this handsome young man you’ve brought with you?”</p><p>“Castiel ma’am.” Cas said, offering his hand to Missouri to shake.</p><p>“Oh honey,” she said, pulling Castiel into a similar hug as she had Dean. “Any friend of Dean is friend of ours. No need to be so formal here.” Cas smiled in return.</p><p>“Alright you two,” Dean butted in, earning him a glare from Missouri. “Sorry we can’t stay Missouri, finals coming up and all.” Cas had to hand it to Dean, he was a decent actor. Like for example right now, he actually almost looked like he was planning to study for his finals (which Cas guessed was at least 75% a lie).</p><p>“Oh you two boys get outta here, come on back anytime though!” Missouri said, giving them both another hug before starting to usher them out the door.</p><p>“Missouri!” Dean protested, “we haven’t even paid yet give us a minute.”</p><p>“Oh honey no it’s on me today I need to make sure you boys are being fed right, you’re both far too skinny.” Cas directed his eyes towards the floor, remembering his three days straight of oatmeal meals. Judging by Dean’s lack of argument, he was thinking a similar thing. “Now both of you, get on outta here, and don’t be strangers you hear Dean Winchester!”</p><p>She turned to Cas, “and honey you’re more than welcome anytime too you just stop by, you’re far to scrawny.” Missouri glanced at him up and down as Dean softly snickered behind him.</p><p>“Alright Missouri ok let the poor kid go,” Dean said. “I’ll see ya Krissy, run an extra gym lap for me will ya? Come on Cas lets get outta here.”</p><p><br/>
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</p><p>Dean pulled the Impala into the alley behind Cas’s apartment.</p><p>“You really want me to drop you here and not out front?” He asked.</p><p>Cas looked up at his building. “Yea, lost the key remember? We have to leave the bathroom window by the fire escape unlocked when no one’s home and climb through it to get in.” Cas paused to think. He really needed to email the landlord again and ask again for him to please maybe make them a new key.</p><p>“The fire escape? What floor do you live on?”</p><p>“The fourth,”</p><p>“The four- You climb through a window on the fourth floor of your apartment?”</p><p>Cas looked back at Dean, who was quite frankly looking more shocked than Cas would’ve expected. “Yea, it’s fine. It’s right there on the fire escape.”</p><p>Dean jus scoffed, grinned, and shook his head. “Man, you just never stop surprising me.” He glanced over at Cas. “So, I’ll see you around right?”</p><p>Cas smiled softly. “Yea, I guess you will.”</p><p>He moved to get out of the car when Dean stopped him. “Hey, um, do you maybe like,” Cas grinned as he watched Dean’s confidence evaporate as he stumbled over each word. “Did you maybe want to like, putyournumberinmyphone?” He rushed out; eyes wide as he looked anywhere but Cas’s eyes.</p><p>Cas let out a soft laugh. “Here, I’ll text my phone.” He held out his hand for Dean’s phone, which Dean was quick to fish out of his pocket. “Besides,” Cas said as he typed his number out, “I have to have some way to return this t-shirt you let me borrow.” Dean grinned at him. They probably looked like idiots, just staring at each other and smiling in a car parked in an alley.</p><p>“Well, that’s my cue.” Cas said, finally opening the door and getting out of the car. He turned back as he shut the door. “See you around Dean.”</p><p>He was nearly to the bottom the fire escape ladder when he heard “Cas!” He turned to where Dean had the passenger window of the Impala down, leaning towards it across the seat. “Hey sorry,” he said, “I just realized that I don’t know your last name.” He paused and seem to fumble, “you know, for like, your contact since, I know a lot of Castiels like it’s a more common name then you’d think-“</p><p>“Dean.” Cas interjected. Dean fell silent, eyes wide once again.</p><p>“It’s Novak.” Dean smiled.</p><p>“Well Castiel Novak, it’s very nice to meet you.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you all for reading this! please leave comments i love to read what y'all think! also i have some empty chapters to fill between Christmas and new years, so if anyone has any content requests send them my way and I'll try to fit them in :)</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>i'm hoping to be able to post at least a chapter per day until Christmas, and then additional chapters through the new year (we'll see how it goes though)</p></blockquote></div></div>
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